Improved railway-chair



lgripe and hug the rail, the chair being thus bottom edge of the rail,and incasing it upon PATENT rrreE.

D. W. GROOKER, OF DEPOSIT, NEW YORK,

IMPROVED RA lLWAY-CHAl R.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,868, dated May 22,1866.

To all l07mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, D. W. CROGKER, of Deposit, in the county of Delawareand State of New York,have invented a new and Improved Railroad-Chair;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

The present invention consists in dividing a railroad-chairvinto twosimilar parts or sections in the direction of its length, between thebases of which parts, extending across from one to the other, and thebottom surface of the rail a wedge-shaped plate or regulator,77 as Iterm it, of peculiar construction and form, is driven, coming to a tightand close bearin g or seat therein, the su rfaces-of the chairbaseswithl which it comes in contact being made of the proper shape therefor,so that as the regulator is driven into the chair it shall cause both ofits jaws to tightly and evenly drawn in a lateral, horizontal, diagonal,and in everyr possible direction toward and against the rail; and, inaddition to the above, the portion of each section of the chair abovethe its sides, is made of a peculiar shape, so that the chair, as it isdrawn' in toward and against the rail, will turn upon a fulcrum, as itwere, at a point between the bottom edge and the upper portion of therail, where its jaws bear.4

In the accompanying plate of drawings my improved railroad-chair isillustrated,Figures 1 and 2 in Plate l being transverse vertical sectionof the same, in connection with a rail, taken, respectively, in planesat or near each end of the chair; Fig. 3, Plate 2, also a partialcross-section of the chair and rail, showing a modication in the outsideform of the chair, as will be hereinafter particularly referred to 5Fig. 4, a view of the inside face of one section of thechair, or thatwhich comes in direct contact with the rail 5 and Fig. 5 a view of theunder or lower side of the regulator,77 'so called.

Similar lettersof reference indicate like parts.

Ain the drawings represents the chair, which is made in two parts orsections, B B, each of which consists of a jaw, C, and a base, D, as

shown in the drawings. rIhe jaws `C of the vtwo parts ofthe chair arefitted closely to the rail E from a to a, also by their longitudinalribs l) at b2, about one-fourth of one inch from the edge of the web Fofthe raillE, leaving a space, a?, between the said rib b and the lowerpoint of bearing between a and a, as before stated. The base portion ofeach section of the chair extends around under the lower side of therailnearly to the center of the same, but with a plate, Gr, inserted in andbetween the rail and the two sections of the chair, extending' acrossfrom one chair-section to the other, which plate I term a regulator, andin the following description will be so called, and is of a peculiarconstruction and form, as well as the surfaces of the chair-bases withwhich it comes in contact, as will be presently explained. Thisregulator Gr is made of a width equal to the under surface or face ofthe lower portion or web, F, of the rail, against which it bears alongthe whole of its length, and is thicker at one end 'than the other,tapering evenly throughout its entire length, which is a little greaterthan that of the chair, but upon the under side only, which side has twosquare-shaped grooves, c c, extending the whole lengt-l1 of theregulator, with their inneredges, d, parallel with each other for theirwhole extent, and equidistant from the longitudinal center line of theregulator, but with their outer edges, f, not parallel to their innerones, both grooves gradually and similarly widening from the thicker endof the regulator to Vits thinner end, but of an equal depth throughouttheir whole length. The edges g of theregulator, outside of the groovesc c, are similarly beveled toward and to the edge of the flatA and plainsurface ofthe regulator, leaving a square lip, h, upon the outer edgesof .the grooves of an even width throughout their whole length.

The surface or face Z of each section of the chair with which theregulator comes in contact has a raised rib, m, extending its wholelength, which rib is a little thinner than the depth of the grooves ofthe regulator, and at one end, a, of the chairthat which has the wideropening or space between the inner faces of the base and jaw of eachsection (the said space between the two gradually lessening from suchend of the chair to the other end, 0, corresponding to the taper of theregulator, or a little less, so th at the regulator, when driven intoits seat between the jaws and rail, will be tightly held and wedged, aswill be presently explained)the said rib is of a little less width thanthat of the narrower ends of the regulator-grooves, and at the other endof the chair of a little less width than the wider end oftheregulator-grooves, the ribs thus tapering from end to end, but on theirouter edges straight and at an even and uniform distance from the inneredge, o2, of the chair-base. These ribs are placed at such positionsupon the chairbases that when the regulator is driven into its seatbetween the rail and chair the tapering sides ofthe ribs will come to aclose bearing against the inclined sides of the grooves of 'theregulator, thus, as the ribs are of a little less width than the jaws,leaving a space or opening, p, between the straight sides of the ribsand that of the grooves in each case, which is uniform, or nearly so,throughout the whole length of the chair.

The portions of the chair-bases opposite t0 the beveled or chamferededges gof the regulator, as well also as its lips h, are made so as toleave a uniform spaceq, between them for the whole length of the chair,and up and around the outer edge ofthe web of the rail to the ribs b ofthe chair, hereinbeforc referred to, as plainly seen in the drawings,the intermediate portion or center rib, s, of the regulator between itstwo grooves closely bearing lgpon the shoulder r of each section of thechairase.

A short distance from the contiguous ends of the two rails to be heldtogether by the chair, but so as to be embraced within the length of thechair, is cut, or otherwise made in any proper manner and upon bothsides or edges ofthe web of the rail, a square-shaped notch, H,corresponding t0 and fitting in which, and at the proper points of thechair, are similar squareshaped knobs or studs I.

The chair constructed as above explained, when used is placed along andupon the side of the rail across the joint of the two contiguous ends,one part upon each side, with the knobs interlocked with the notchesofthe rails, when the wedge-shaped plate, or the regulator,77 as I termit, is inserted by its thinner end within the wider opening between thechair and the bottom of the rail, its iiat surface against the rail, anddriven forward therein, at the same time holding the two parts of thechair to the rail until held bythe action of the said regulator, theouter or inclined edges of the grooves c of the regulator, by pressingand bearing against the outer or inclined edges of the ribs or lips mupon the bases of the chair, drawing the two parts of the chair towardeach other, at the same time that the center strip or rib, s, of theregulator, pressing' down upon the top of the shoulders r of the chair,draws the chair downward, thus causing both parts 0f the chair totightly hug or gripe the rail upon all sides, bearing against suchportions ofthe rail, as was hereinbefore particularly referred to, thelongitudinal ribs b of the chair acting as a fulcrum for the` chair toturn upon as the regulator, by drawing it into its seat, acts upon thechair, as explained.

The driving of the regulator into the chair is continued until thebearings of the chair upon the rail are made as close and perfect aspossible, and the joint of the railsA thus held rigid, which result,owing to the construction and formation of the chair and regulator withregard to each other, hereinabove described, will be effected when, orperhaps in some cases before or after, the forward or thinner end of theregulator has reached the other end of the chair to that at which it wasinserted. Y

The object ofthe interlocking of the studs upon the chair-sections withthe rail-notches is to prevent the rails from sliding in the chair asthe regulator is driven in, these notches being at such points of therail and the studs of the chair that when the studs are interlocked withthe rail-notches the contiguous ends of the rails will be in closecontact, or as near together as practicable.

By constructing a railroad-chair substantially in the manner described,in connection with the regulator having the general form and principlesspecified, a trin and close pressure or bearing upon or gripin g of therails by the chair is obtained, and the regulator, as it is driven intothe chair, acts, as is obvious, not only in a vertical direction, butalso laterally, horizontally, and diagonally, and, in fact, in everydirection possible, whereby it is rendered impossible for the ends ofthe rails to become displaced so long as the chair is retained in itsproper place and operates through its regulator upon the rail, asdescribed.

I have arranged upon the outer face or surface of the center rib ortongue, s, of the regulator, and near the thinner end of the same, aflat steel or other suitable spring plate or catch, t, which spring, atits heel u, is secured to the said rib with its free end o toward thethicker end of the regulator, and extends in the same directiontherewith. As the regulatoris driven into the chair this spring slidesalong and upon the shoulders r of the chair, but when the regulatorreaches its proper seat the spring engages by its free end with a notch,made across both sections ofthe chair, thus holding the regulator andthe two parts of the chair firmly in their places, and rendering itimpossible for the joint to become loose or shackling, the spring, whendesired to withdraw the regulator for unloosening the chair, beingdepressed sufliciently and in any proper manner to disen gage it fromthe notch of the chair, thus leaving the regulator free to be driven outby any suitable means.

The railroad-chair constructed according to my invention may rest or notupon the crossties or sleepers, its lower outside corners, w w, when notresting upon the sleepers or ties, being made rounded, (see Figs. l and2,) and when resting upon the ties of a square shape, (see Fig. 3,) theinner corners, y y, of the chairsections being in such case rounded off,as

shown in the drawings, so as to throw the bearing ofthe chair upon theties outside of the longitudinal center line of the base of the rail,these inner corners of the chair, when used between the ties, beingrounded or not, as may be deemed best or desirable, it then inaking nomaterial difference.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 4 1. Dividing the chair into two similar parts orsections in the direction of its length, in combination with thewedge-shaped plate or regulator G, having the general form andconstruction hereinabove described, which plate Y is driven in andbetween the basis of the said

